Overview

Bird Beak Toolbox is an educational game submitted for consideration by the Perot Museum of Nature and Science as a part of the Museum Games course at the University of Texas at Dallas. The project began in the Fall 2015 semester and continued through the Spring 2016 semester. The game was developed in Unity for use with a touch screen interface.

 My role on the team was that of Lead Game Designer. My primary function was to ensure gameplay fit the learning objectives outlined by the Perot Museum's experts. I also worked with my team to ensure their input was heard and incorporated into the final product as appropriate. Additionally, I created and presented progress reports to representatives from the Perot Museum.

The game's purpose is to show the player that a bird's beak functions similarly to man made tools. The player is supposed to identify what tool the beak looks like and then choose the appropriate food for it to eat. If the player taps the bird's portrait in the lower left corner, the image is replaced with one of a man made tool with a similar function. The target audience is children about 5 years of age to younger teens.

The most important lessons I learned during my time on this project was how to work with a client. Our greatest challenge was adapting our communication to work most effectively with the Perot Museum. While presenting our progress, I was thoughtful about the language I would use in order to deliver an accurate synopsis of our status and illicit meaningful feedback.

Download

The final build of the game can be downloaded here.